WRITING THE
AUTOETHNOGRAPHY
Notes and Tips
Frequently Asked Questions

How much of my own experience do I use?
When do I bring in research?
 The answer will vary based on your topic.
 Think about arranging different “blocks” or
“modules” of evidence into paragraphs.
Each paragraph is a conversation with 2 –
3 “speakers”
One of these speakers may be you!
A Sample Paragraph


Topic sentence – Link back to the thesis
Source A

Use a “quote sandwich” or a “paraphrase sandwich”
Introduce Source A
 Lead-in to quote or paraphrase
 Analyze quote/address implications



Transition to Source B (Create a “Bridge”)
Source B


Another “quote sandwich” or “paraphrase sandwich”
Conclude paragraph by summarizing what has been
said and creating a bridge to the next topic.
A Sample Paragraph


Topic sentence – Link back to the thesis
Source A

Use a “quote sandwich” or a “paraphrase sandwich”
Introduce Source A
 Lead-in to quote or paraphrase
 Analyze quote/address implications



Transition to Source B (Create a “Bridge”
Source B


Another “quote sandwich” or “paraphrase sandwich”
Conclude paragraph by summarizing what has been
said and creating a bridge to the next topic.
Quotation


Quotations must match the source document word
for word.
Every time you use words directly from a source,
you should use quotation marks to indicate that.
 E.g.
Speaking about her father, Bechdel writes, “He
would perform, as Daedalus did, dazzling displays of
artfulness” (9).
 If
the quote ends with a period, the quotation/citation
should follow this form – ” ( ).
 If the quote ends with a question mark or an exclamation
mark, it should follow this form -- !” ( ).
Quotations (Cont’d)



If you need to take information out of a quotation,
mark the place where you took it out using ellipses
(Easy Writer 129-130).
Use brackets [ ] to indicate information that you are
adding within a quotation. You may often have to
use it to clarify pronouns.
If you have a long quotation (more than four lines in
MLA), indent it one inch (two tab stops). See Easy
Writer 122 for an example.
Try it

Find a quotation from one of your sources.
 Introduce
the source (author and title, if useful)
 Introduce the immediate context
 What
does the reader need to know?
 Introduce
 Include
 Interpret
quotation
citation
or address quotation
Paraphrase

A paraphrase summarizes a text without using any
phrases from the original text.
A
paraphrase does not include any quotation marks,
but it does include a page number.
Paraquote

A paraquote combines a paraphrase and a
quotation. All parts of a phrase that are quoted
directly are enclosed in quotation marks.
A
paraquote is useful when you want to use a
significant phrase or word from a quote, but you don’t
want to use the whole thing.
Example

In Fun Home, Alison Bechdel tells us that the
Stonewall riots occurred just a few weeks before
her family visited New York (104). Although she
admits “the absurdity of claiming a connection to
that mythologized flashpoint,” she also asks the
reader, “Might not a lingering vibration, a quantum
particle of rebellion, still have have hung in the
humectant air?” (104).
Try it!


Write a sentence that paraphrases a quotation
from your source and another sentence that uses a
“paraquote.”
Make sure to cite author and page number for both
the paraphrase and the paraquote!